vcjack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by vcjack on Sept 3, 2008 22:35:21 GMT -5
Just caught the end of the Williams sisters' match, great tennis. This Fish guy who is playing Nadal right now seems to have some promise, which is a good sign for US Tennis.
Speaking of which the Roddick/Djokovic match should be great
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FewFAC
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by FewFAC on Sept 3, 2008 23:25:37 GMT -5
I was lucky enough to catch all but the first three games of the Williams sisters' match. Not the best, but you really gotta feel for Venus who blew something like 8 set points and could have easily won in straight sets.
As for Mardy Fish, he didn't really play all that well until his match in the third round against James Blake, but has probably played the two best matches of his career over the last two rounds. Coming out for a first set win was mighty impressive against Nadal, but I expect Nadal to settle in pretty easily (up 3-0 in the second) and blow out a four-setter.
Roddick seems to be playing great right now, but he always does in Flushing Meadows. His continued progression will be interesting, especially with Federer out of proper conditioning, the tournament remains winnable. Djokovic hasn't played particularly well in the matches I've seen him play thus far, and I hope Andy comes out focused, instead of the nonchalant, non aggressive player I've come to expect.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hifigator on Sept 4, 2008 15:53:09 GMT -5
I don't follow tennis like I used to. Is Jimmy Connors still coaching Roddick? When he hired him a year or two back, the thought was that it might be the move that would get Roddick moving in the right direction and elevate him to the next level. After starting pretty well in last year's open he kind of fizzled and I haven't seen him do much since then. I would love to see him at least make the finals.
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RDF
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by RDF on Sept 4, 2008 23:13:02 GMT -5
1. Roddick isn't being coached by Connors anymore--that ended earlier this year.
2. Patrick McEnroe was helping Roddick at the Open.
3. Roddick should have shut his mouth--and if he's going to talk mess about Djokovic--at least back it up--another CHOKE JOB by Roddick.
4. Mardy Fish isn't young--he's a journeyman who had good run--but won't repeat/sustain success.
Here's hoping for Federer-Nadal Part III this year--and hope Federer wins.
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FewFAC
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Post by FewFAC on Sept 5, 2008 0:14:49 GMT -5
Yeah, I echo RDF's comments, though obviously I'm trying to be more pro-America positive. Pretty disappointed in Roddick's performance, but was hoping he had found a way to overcome his mental block. Amazingly, it looked like the identical mental block that Venus had yesterday, and while I didn't get to watch it too closely, Djokovic had no business breaking Andy ever, but Andy didn't decide to show up until the third set.
I really don't want to see Federer-Nadal just because Federer is so out of condition, but Nadal has had a lot of mental lapses when I've seen him too, though I would never want to count on that going into a match against him.
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tlphoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by tlphoya on Sept 5, 2008 11:09:06 GMT -5
I'm going up to the US Open this weekend for the women's and men's finals. I've never been before - anybody have any advice/suggestions/etc...
I would love to see a men's finals to rival that of Wimbledon this year.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hifigator on Sept 5, 2008 15:59:18 GMT -5
I didn't watch any of the Roddick-Djokovic match, but I saw that Andy lost the first two sets, then came back to win the third and was serving, up a break at 5-4 in the fourth before he double faulted twice in a row to lose the break and then ultimately lost in the tiebreaker.
For those who watched the match, was it really match of runs -- first Djokovic then Roddick, or was it just a key break here and there? I know we will never know, but if Roddick had closed out the fourth set, what do you think would have happened in the fifth?
On a related note, my gut instinct is that Roddick doesn't do all that well in tiebreakers for some reason. That could be totally wrong, and I just happen to remember key losses at major tournaments. But historically, big servers had an advantage in tiebreakers. McEnroe, Lenld and Sampras for example fared well in tie breakers. As I recall, Jimmy Conners wasn't as good and that would make sense, as he never had the big serve. I want to say that Borg was really the main exception as being really good in tiebreakers, in spite of not having the monster serve that others of that era -- McEnroe, Tanner, Becker etc... -- had.
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vcjack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by vcjack on Sept 7, 2008 19:21:22 GMT -5
I'm going up to the US Open this weekend for the women's and men's finals. I've never been before - anybody have any advice/suggestions/etc... I would love to see a men's finals to rival that of Wimbledon this year. Haven't gone in years but it was a great experience and you might get a chance to see a British man win a major for the first time since 1936 |
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RDF
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Post by RDF on Sept 8, 2008 23:41:39 GMT -5
Federer put on a show today--and really upped his level of play once he hit the Semifinal. Guy is best player I've seen--and would love to have one Major and go 24-3 in major tournaments for a "terrible year".
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